Kogan stake up for grabs to steer ambitious growth

Ruslan Kogan, who has an 80 per cent stake in the business, would not say which strategic options he preferred or how much he was willing to sell, but said he had no plans to exit the company himself.
Photo: Luis Ascui

Ruslan Kogan, the founder of popular e-commerce website Kogan, has confirmed he is fielding formal approaches for a potential stake in the business, in a bid to reach $2 billion turnover by 2017.

The Australian Financial Review.

“Our business has been growing very fast over many years and for many years now we have had a lot of approaches with a keen interest in Kogan. We are assessing our options for a growth partner that may be able to help us take the business to the next level.

“I have no plans to exit the business but we do have plans to grow the business to the point where it’s the biggest consumer electronics retailer in the country."

Mr Kogan’s goal is to reach an annual turnover of more than $2 billion by 2017, in hope of surpassing the slowing consumer electronics business of Harvey Norman’s Gerry Harvey, with who Mr Kogan has held a long-running public rivalry.

Though a full sale of the business is unlikely, estimates pin Kogan’s current value at more than $400 million.

A Belarussian migrant, Mr Kogan founded the online commerce store in 2006, growing the business primarily by selling cheaper consumer electronics sourced directly from Chinese factories and later grey import smartphones and tablets.